Indonesia: Hotspot detection across Sumatra Island reaches 260

Antara 19 Aug 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - A total of 260 hotspots were identified throughout Sumatra Island on Monday morning, suggestive of forest and peatland fires.

Analyst at the Pekanbaru Meteorology Station Nia Fadhila stated here on Monday that South Sumatra was found to contain the largest number of hotspots, reaching 97.

Hotspots were also found in Jambi, totaling 75; Riau, 57; Bangka Belitung, 13; Riau, nine; Lampung, eight; and North Sumatra, one.

In Riau, 22 hotspots were detected in Indragiri Hilir, 21 in Pelalawan, nine in Meranti, three in Indragiri Hulu, and one each in Bengkalis and Rohil.

Visibility was quite good in Pekanbaru, reaching seven kilometers; five kilometers in Pelalawan; four kilometers in Rengat; and six kilometers in Dumai.

In the meantime, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya had confirmed that the tourism sector remained unaffected by the fires engulfing the land and forest areas in several Indonesian provinces over the past few months.

After attending the commemoration of the South Kalimantan provincial government's 69th anniversary, Yahya pointed out that despite the raging fires, foreign tourist visits to different tourist destinations in the country remained unabated.

"We have yet to receive any report on the impact of land fires on national tourism. Everything is running as usual," he stated.

He acknowledged the efforts of firefighters in extinguishing the land and forest fires in a swift and more integrated manner.

"In the previous years, land and forest fires had disrupted the tourism sector. However, this year, the impact had yet to be felt," he added.

Reporter: FB Anggoro, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution

West Kalimantan Police handles 40 land and forest fire cases
Antara 19 Aug 19;

Pontianak, W Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The West Kalimantan police questioned intensely 40 found to be allegedly involved in 34 land and forest fire cases that caused incessant suffering to locals owing to the impact of thick smoke emanating from wildfires.

"A total of 33 cases of such land and forest fires are linked to individuals, while the other one is related to corporation," Senior Commissioner Donny Charles Go, the West Kalimantan police spokesman, remarked here on Monday.

The police investigators will continue to make law enforcement efforts targeting individuals and companies involved in the occurrences of wildfires, he noted, adding that the National Police had demonstrated its seriousness in handling land and forest fire cases.

The National Police's assistant team members had also been deployed to West Kalimantan to closely monitor efforts to handle the cases of wildfires raging through several hectares of land during this dry season, he remarked.

The National Police has given clear-cut directives to its apparatuses in the regions to apply preventive and law-enforcement measures concerning the cases of land and forest fires, he stated.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry noted that the authorities had sealed 10 plantation firms and companies granted industrial forest permits (HTI) after wildfires were detected in their areas.

Thick haze, resulting from wildfires in the peatland areas and due to slash and burn activities, has shrouded the areas of Pontianak and several other parts of West Kalimantan over the past few weeks.

Several residents of Pontianak, the capital city of West Kalimantan Province, admitted to having to inhale haze, with a strong odor, arising from wildfires.

Owing to this condition, several residents were apprehensive over the impact of the thick smog on their health and outdoor activities. The haze, lofting through the areas of Pontianak, had also reduced visibility. Amid this year's dry season, land and forest fires hit several provinces in the island of Sumatra, including South Sumatra and Riau. Related news: 382 hotspots detected in West Kalimantan

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Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

Conflagration razes Mount Pogor forest area
Antara 20 Aug 19;

Cianjur, West Java (ANTARA) - The Mount Pogor forest area, spanning 1,500 meters in Malati Village, Naringgul Sub-district, Cianjur District, West Java Province, was destroyed by fire on Monday evening.

Several officers of the Naringgul authorities were quick to reach the location to extinguish the fire after receiving a report on it from local villagers, Adam, an eyewitness, noted here on Tuesday.

"Luckily, the fire did not spread deep into the forest but only razed the perimeter of the forest. I spotted a quite big fire from the Ujung Parakan road where the blaze began," he noted.

Asep Asbo, a local territorial police member, remarked that the fire broke out at block 24 of Mount Pogor, Cikondang Kampong, near Parakan Telu kampong located at the border of a protected forest supervised by the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

"The fire arose from the middle and spread to the other side that is dry. The fire was most likely triggered by thatches that caught fire due to the blazing sun," he stated.

It took two hours for the officers and local villagers to extinguish the fire owing to the difficulty in finding water nearby.

"Today, we and officers of the Naringgul Police Office will investigate the cause of the fire, and in the evening, we will patrol the forest area to prevent any recurrence of the fire," he noted.

Related news: Forest on Mt Merapi's slope catches fire
Related news: 343 hectares of Mount Ciremai forest area gutted

Indonesia is currently reeling from an acute dry spell triggered by the El-Nino natural phenomenon that has led to a water crisis and forest fires in several provinces.

Eight provinces in Indonesia are prone to forest fires, but only six have declared an emergency status for forest fires, Director of Forest Fire Mitigation Raffles B. Panjaitan of the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry stated.

The six provinces are Riau, with the emergency status declared from Feb 19 to Oct 31, or 255 days; West Kalimantan (from Feb 12 to Dec 31, or 323 days); South Sumatra (March 8-Oct 31, or 237 days); Central Kalimantan (May 28-Aug 26, or 91 days); South Kalimantan (June 1-Oct 31, or 153 days); and Jambi (July 23-Oct 20, or 90 days).

Reporter: Ahmad Fikri, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati

Forest on Mt Merapi's slope catches fire
Antara 19 Aug 19;

At this moment my fellow volunteers are trying to reach the scene of the fire but to no avail due to difficult terrain
Magelang, C Java (ANTARA) - Forest on the slope of Mount Merapi which straddles Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces caught fire on Sunday night.

Based on preliminary information the fire raged through the forest in Jurang Jero area, Soko hamlet, Ngargosoko village, Srumbung sub-district, Magelang district, Central Java, Head of the Magelang District Disaster Mitigation Board (BPBD).Edy Susanto said.

The hotspot indicating the fire was first detected at 6:45 p.m. local time. However, the cause of the fire is still unknown, he said.

"At this moment my fellow volunteers are trying to reach the scene of the fire but to no avail due to difficult terrain," he said.

He said the BPBD has been coordinating with the Mount Merapi National Park (TNGM) to handle the fire.

Reporter: Heru Suyitno/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf